A Different Lesson

by nievelion

The very day after his defeat by the Dragon Warrior, a battered and injured Tai Lung is taken in by Master Shifu. Several of the Five, most notably Tigress, think he is out of his mind, while Po has faith in his enemy. Can a father undo his past mistakes?

36. Chapter 36: Consider the Source

(Had to split the chapter again. At this rate, my fic may be forty-two chapters when complete, I really don't know. I guess it takes as long as it needs to to tell the story...)

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Cresting the last rise in the cliffside ledge just before the three of them would come into view of the peak of Wu Dan, Tigress glanced aside warily and, she had to admit, a trifle worriedly. Beside her on the rocky path, the black and white form of the Dragon Warrior made his way up into the misty heights of the range with a stamina and unwavering commitment that was startling. Rather than trudging and panting as she'd expected, he was barely breathing hard and he set such a rapid, relentless pace that even she found herself a little hard-pressed to keep up; apparently, the kung fu training the panda had undergone with Tai Lung and Mei Ling had most certainly paid off.

More to the point, however, was the expression on his broad-featured face: a grim finality in the set of his jaw and tightly-clamped lips, an almost cold flatness in his usually sparkling, vibrant green eyes. Gone, it seemed, was the playful, sweetly endearing noodle-maker he'd been when they first met, at least for the moment; in his place was a determined and fierce fighter she had never once suspected might lie beneath his amiable exterior. She'd had glimpses of it before, how during Shifu's crash course he had never once given up or allowed any amount of abuse to deter him from achieving his lifelong dream, and she'd known that, somehow, the panda had defeated Tai Lung in single combat.

Until now, she'd had no inkling how that miracle had come about. But now, watching the surprising play of muscle beneath those squared shoulders, the way his black-furred fists subtly clenched until the knuckles cracked, the gritted teeth and the glint which came from beneath his knitted brows, the leader of the Furious Four could at last understand. For all his initial bumbling, the laughable antics which had misled her into believing he did not take kung fu seriously, and the overall placidity and gentleness of his demeanor, the heart of a true warrior beat inside his chest. If Tigress had had any lingering doubts as to the panda's fitness for the Dragon Scroll, they would now be dashed.

She knew why this was, of course, what had driven Po to this unusual emotional state—one he'd been in ever since he first came to Tai Lung's room in the dormitory of the Jade Palace the night before. For when he had investigated the striped feline's own chamber, only to find it undisturbed, and all of his shuffling and scrambling about in the darkness had attracted Tigress's attention so that she softly but harshly called out to summon him to where she'd been waiting somewhat worriedly for the snow leopard's long-delayed return from the village, the Dragon Warrior had hurriedly explained everything.

How he'd gone to his father's restaurant to meet with Zhuang and his wife, there to hopefully work on enjoining Xiulan to relent in her prejudiced hatred for Tai Lung. How instead he'd encountered Wu Chun in the eerie, mist-shrouded, rather terrifying streets, only to be offered a poisonous and frankly insulting deal by the assassin trio and their wicked master. And how, when he'd objected quite strenuously to its terms and conditions and had been going to refuse outright, the snow leopardess had blithely informed him of Ping having fallen into their cruel clutches.

Hearing this, Tigress had thought fast. There was no way, of course, they could allow this state of affairs to remain unchanged, nor could they possibly let Po give in to the Wu Sisters' demands. She would never go so far, of course, to admit that Xiu's blatant challenge to flout her orders and accompany the panda to the sacred peak had practically screamed to be answered. But by the same token, neither could poor Mr. Ping be left at the killers' "tender mercies", and letting Po go alone to rescue him was also out of the question.

The only thing left to be determined was how exactly they would defeat the assassins while still keeping the goose alive. Killing him, of course, would abrogate the deal, hopefully doom Chao's plot by ensuring Po's participation in the final battle, and set off a wrath never seen from the panda. But just because the Sisters would have to be mad to take Ping's life just yet didn't mean he was completely out of danger. Then, of course, there was the matter of taking out three fighters who had separately trounced both him and Tigress…

Just as she had been about to suggest sneaking into the Hall of Warriors and absconding with whatever weapons they deemed prudent, a diffident cough had come from the doorway, and Viper had revealed herself. Having also stayed awake to await Tai Lung's return—if for no other reason than to continue teasing the snow leopard about the nature of his errand, Tigress suspected—she "couldn't help but overhear". And she was absolutely determined to be included in whatever plans they made, or else she was going to tattle on them to Shifu.

That threat was sufficient to prompt their agreement, since neither Tigress nor Po wanted the red panda to get involved—this was personal, both of them had compelling reasons to seek out the Wu Sisters and put an end to their siege, and if Shifu knew what they were planning he would either forbid their going or insist on doing the deed himself. Not that they doubted the master of the Jade Palace could handle the assassins…but there was a chance that Ping could become injured or even killed if Shifu became too focused on his quarry. And both the panda and the striped feline wanted to take care of the Sisters themselves.

Viper, too, it seemed, had reason to come along aside from simply protecting her friends—unless Tigress missed her guess, the serpent had come to care for Po very deeply as a friend, and so had taken the Wu Sisters' targeting of him for death with as much cold fury and fiery hatred as any of them had ever seen from Tai Lung.

So it was that the three of them had departed the Jade Palace, leaving a note behind to explain their absence—and quite willing to weather whatever punishments Shifu would dole out upon their return, so long as they first succeeded in rescuing Po's father, defeating the Wu Sisters…and perhaps, getting a little delicious revenge in the bargain. But although all three had been united in their goals, even Tigress had been startled, and more than a little upset, by the change in the panda.

It had been immediately apparent once they'd descended the side of the Jade Mountain and made a wide berth around the village, with how the bear had slipped as soundlessly and swiftly through the fields and forests as the two females, his focus lending him skill and light-footedness he usually did not possess. It had manifested all throughout their hours-long journey through the shadowy, brume-laden night—when the usually garrulous Dragon Warrior had remained utterly, absolutely silent the entire trip, save for the occasional noncommittal grunt or laconic phrase muttered whenever Tigress or Viper inquired as to his welfare or sought more information about the situation at Wu Dan.

The end result of that, an unnervingly quiet travel beneath midnight skies which were becoming ever darker as racing clouds hid both moon and stars, had only served to hone their tempers and fears to an even finer razor's edge. And as the dawn's first rays had finally begun spearing over the eastern ridgeline to bathe the land in light and warmth, coinciding with the scaling of Wu Dan's lowest slopes, they had revealed the same expression Po wore now…a look of ferocity, of unrelenting resolve, and above all, a smoldering and bitter anger she had never expected to find there. Even the way he'd acted in her room, following that night in the birch forest, could not have prepared her for the outright animosity in the panda's expression now.

He had gone beyond angry, he was pissed…and while she completely understood why, sympathized deeply, and rather suspected the Wu Sisters were not going to know what hit them, she had to wonder how far Po would be willing to go to get his father back, safe and sound. Surely he would not kill, not without provocation—would he? And if he were given no other choice, and he had to do so in the defense of his own life or theirs, she fully expected him to be overcome afterward with remorse, or at least disgust. But what if he wasn't?

Up until now, Chao had seemed unable to affect the panda whatsoever…now, at last, through the indirect means of the Wu Sisters, he might have unlocked a darker side to the Dragon Warrior. And Tigress had no idea where that might lead…

Something of this may have come through in her own expression, for an odd spasm seemed to pass over Po's face, his features twisting in an obscure pain and regret. But then the moment passed, and once more he was only hard and unyielding. Before either of them could speak, however, Viper, who had slithered up between and beyond them to the promontory overlooking Wu Dan, suddenly cried out in mingled shock and terror. Hurrying to the serpent's side, Tigress saw at once what had upset her—and it made her own heart leap into her throat.

There, across the valley which plunged between their ledge and the sacred peak itself, they could see the plain of shimmering, softly billowing grass where the greatest of kung fu fighters learned to hone their craft, the rocky cliffs above shining and burnished in the golden sunlight, mist encircling the highest reaches while churning rivers and streams crossed the plateau or tumbled from the ledges in gorgeous cascades. However, just below the looming monolith from which Shifu, and Oogway before him, had trained each of the Jade Palace's warriors in turn, where there should have been the gleaming, sparkling waters of the Pool of Sacred Tears, something was…wrong. Even at this distance, Tigress could see something which did not belong, a churning maelstrom of roiling darkness that boiled out of its banks and flowed, effortlessly and endlessly, across the plain toward the precipice and the Valley far below.

"What…?" she whispered harshly. "What has happened? Who could have—why—"

"Chao," Po said huskily, sounding sick inside but also utterly, completely decisive, as if he'd been granted sudden and unequivocal insight. "It's gotta be. I dunno how or why, but…somehow he's polluted the pool, or something."

Silent and uneasy, Tigress exchanged a long, troubled look with Viper. "I don't like the sound of that. He must have done it for a reason. And if he can do that to a place so pure and pristine, then…"

"Don't even think about it," Viper cut across her crisply. "We're not going to let him get away with this, or anything else he's done. Anyway, one thing at a time. There's someone a lot more immediate to worry about—three someones. And a friend to rescue."

Leave it to Viper to see to the heart of the matter, as always. The leader of the Four paused, glanced at Po to discover he looked even more forthright and pugnacious than ever, and then nodded. Unconsciously flexing her fingers into fists until all her knuckles cracked, she narrowed her eyes and hissed softly under her breath. "Yes…let's get this over with." And so saying, she turned and led the way around the valley's rim toward Wu Dan.

When the three of them finally reached the craggy shelf at the edge of the forests covering the mountain, it didn't take them long at all to discover what was amiss, although it was still unclear what exactly had happened or how. Beneath the boughs of the whispering pine trees and the looming guardian of the menhir, the Pool of Sacred Tears had been…changed, somehow. No longer a placid, silvery expanse of clear, pale blue, it had become twisted and foul, steaming and churning endlessly as if some source unseen had released the fires of the earth into its depths, changing it into a particularly repugnant hot spring. It wouldn't surprise her if, upon touching its waters, her paw would be scalded and seared by its boiling heat.

Tigress's eyes were so unerringly fixed on this terrible transformation that she didn't realize what else was wrong until Po suddenly groaned aloud. Jerking her eyes away from the black waters, she gasped instinctively. Hanging from a length of knotted rope tied around the thickest limb of the tree which stood beside the pool, his body creaking and swaying in the mountain wind, was Mr. Ping.

From the furious snarl the Dragon Warrior gave, it was clear he'd concluded his father was dead, but as she peered closer, the striped feline saw that the goose's chest still rose and fell, however marginally, and while his eyes were glazed and bulging, they still blinked and shifted occasionally. His treatment was cruel and inhumane, but the rope must have been tied in such a way as to keep him still alive—if only barely. "Po…it's all right, I don't think he—"

Before she could say more, she was suddenly interrupted by a clearing throat behind her, and a few drawled, bored-sounding words. "Well, well, well. We thought you'd never get here. And I see that you can't even follow a direct order when your muzzle's shoved in it."

Twisting about abruptly, Tigress looked back at a boulder which she knew, when they'd passed it before, had been completely empty. Now, however, the slender, black-cloaked figure of Wu Xiu lounged upon it lazily, idly tossing a dagger back and forth between her paws, and even as she watched, the accompanying figures of her sisters seemed to detach themselves from the concealing shadows of the nearest trees. In seconds, before they could even blink, the three of them had been surrounded.

Yet to her pleasant surprise, if also a solemn understanding, Po did not even flinch at this, nor did he take his eyes off of Xiu. As steady as a stone, as calm and still as the Moon Pool, and as focused as Mantis had ever been, the panda shifted his feet only an inch, only marginally leaning to one side, but Tigress marked it instantly for what it was—tensing his muscles in preparation for the opening Dragon stance.

And the Wu Sisters seemed to recognize it too, since both Chun and Jia at once moved to grasp weapons, the former her fire wheels, the latter a war fan. Even the eldest sister regarded Po with more care and concern than she likely had in Yunxian, sitting up on the boulder and clutching her dagger more threateningly. Something had shifted in the balance of power, and they knew it.

"Funny thing about that," Po suddenly said, and even his voice was different, soft and sibilant, with a dark, menacing edge. "I don't really take well t' bein' given orders. An' I never do what I'm told, either."

If the situation had not been so dire, if it hadn't been absolutely necessary to remain poised for combat, and if she weren't filled herself with a growing rage and disgust, Tigress might have laughed at that comment—since it brought to mind images of how the panda had responded to Shifu's training, refusing to leave the Jade Palace or abandoning the position Oogway had chosen for him no matter how much the Furious Five or their master had battered and pummeled him, no matter the cold shoulders given and the relentless mockery that had been made of him that first day.

Contrary to what they'd been told would be Xiu's reaction should the Dragon Warrior not come to Wu Dan alone, the snow leopardess seemed positively delighted he had disobeyed and they were all here—in fact she outright grinned at his audacious response. "So I see. It seems I underestimated you, too, panda. I guess Heian Chao was right about you after all."

"Yeah, about him," Po growled. "What'd he do to the Sacred Pool? Or was that your doin'?"

"We just gave him the poison to taint it with," Xiu said offhandedly, as if she were just passing along an old family recipe. "As for what he did—don't know, don't care. All that matters to me is that you sit this battle out, so that Chao can win and we'll finally get what we want. What we've dreamed of for years." She paused, then slyly smiled sidelong at him. "But then you know all about dreams, don't you?"

"Don't you dare try and compare yourself to him!" Viper snapped, rising up on her coils to glare furiously at her.

But the panda was already cutting in, and from the sound of his voice he was still as angry as he was repulsed by the Wu Sister. "You're a real piece of work, yanno that? This guy is bad news, the worst thing that could ever happen t' China, an' all you care about is, what, gettin' Tai Lung on your leash?" He shook his head, then frowned as something seemed to actually get through his ire. "There's gotta be more to it than that. What do ya really want?"

"A lot of things," Chun said, speaking up in her usual no-nonsense, seemingly disinterested tone. Her voice was just as quiet as Po's. "I want the deadliest kung fu strike, the one that can kill with the flick of a single finger. Jia wants to stay young and beautiful. And Xiu…"

The eldest sister performed an artful gesture, inscribing a hanzi character in mid-air with her knife; it took Tigress a moment to recognize it as the character for the number four—for death. "Heian Chao has promised to make me a master of chi, as he is…to have the same power over life and death, dark and light, soul and will." She licked her lips suggestively, a glint of fang showing, and something unholy and rapturous appeared in her cold blue eyes, something inhuman. Only by sheer force of will did Tigress keep from showing weakness by stepping back a pace.

Po, quite properly, ignored the other sisters and their desires—which were, after all, understandable if not natural. Instead he zeroed in on Xiu, and the look on his face mingled contempt with disbelief, even a trace of nausea. "Wait a minute…you know what he can do with that stuff. You've been here long enough t' see all those bodies around th' Valley. And ya saw Monkey's room just like th' rest of us. That's th' kinda things that happen when ya let Chao in, when ya let yourself get twisted an' use life th' way he does. An' ya still wanna have his powers?"

Her smile became broader, gloating, rapaciously possessive, and if her paws hadn't been busy with a dagger, she likely would have rubbed them together in gleeful anticipation. "Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I want that? You really are slow on the uptake, panda. Didn't you get the message when you learned we were assassins? We like to kill. And I for one can't wait until I don't need paltry things like weapons and poisons…when I can simply take someone's breath with a thought, hold their life in my paws, control and compel them with my will…yes, that will be glorious…"

Out of the corner of her eye, Tigress saw Jia shoot her sister an openly horrified, stricken look, and even Chun sidled a step or two away. But Po looked the most appalled and upset, his face going pale beneath the fur. "Gods…you're sick. Totally, absolutely, positively wacko. You know that, right?"

Xiu raised an eyebrow, chuckled, and then actually bowed before putting her free paw to her cheek as if to hide a blush. "Such a flatterer you are, Dragon Warrior. You really know how to please a girl. Maybe Tai Lung should be getting romance tips from you instead?"

"Damnit, cut the crap, will ya?" The panda took a step forward, planting his foot down solidly and bringing his paws to bear in mirroring Dragon Fists. "I was gonna try an' be th' bigger person here—"

"You mean you're not already?" Xiu batted her eyes artfully. Oh, she's going down!

"—I was gonna be all diplomatic about this, but no more Mr. Nice Panda. I'm givin' ya one last chance t' surrender. Are ya gonna let my father go?" Po tilted his head marginally toward the swinging goose, still not taking his eyes off his adversary.

"Hmm, I don't know," the snow leopardess said thoughtfully, before fixing him with an incisive, pertinent stare. "Are you going to sit this battle out, as we asked, and leave everything to Chao and Tai Lung?" The bear didn't dignify her rhetorical question with a reply, only glaring sullenly and reproachfully at her—the same sort of look one would use if treated like a child or a simpleton, which essentially was how everyone acted toward him upon first meeting, and Xiu was no better.

Reading this non-answer correctly, the Wu Sister let out a theatrical sigh and rose to her feet—but for all her languid motions and demeaning attitude, her weapon remained aimed straight and true to guard against any attack. "I thought as much. Violent, foolhardy, and ridiculously stubborn to the end. Now who does that remind you of?" This last she directed at her violet-eyed sister, but whether because she refused to take her eyes off of Tigress or for some other reason, Jia didn't take the bait.

Po, unfortunately, did. "What're you talkin' about? You gonna try an' make me out t' be like Tai, say I got th' same darkness an' could rampage too? Not buyin' it."

She rolled her eyes. "Hardly. You aren't in the same league with him. You aren't even a player. Give a fellow one special scroll, and suddenly he forgets all about the other thousand…no, it's just that, you're such a chip off the old block, panda. It's quite remarkable, really…"

For several moments, silence reigned while each of them tried to process this, to even make sure they'd heard right let alone parse its correct meaning. Po especially had to blink hard several times before he could even find his voice. For a brief moment, his paws lowered a fraction of an inch, and he narrowed his green eyes as he stared piercingly at Xiu, as if trying to see into her wicked, rotten heart and (futilely perhaps) discover some buried, genuine truth there.

Then, suddenly, he shook himself and his paws were right back in position again, his face even harder and nastier than before. "Pfft. Riiiiight. Had me goin' there for a moment. But yanno, if you're gonna use a trick like that, just a word of advice: don't use it twice in a row. 'Specially not on a guy who heard ya use it th' first time."

"It's not a trick," Xiu said lightly, easily—but something in her voice made Tigress hesitate. She sounded, not pleased with her own cleverness, but delighted…as if at the fact she had hold of real information that allowed her to be as cruel and manipulative as she liked, that she dearly enjoyed being able to taunt and torment someone with what she knew to be true rather than with blatant lies and obfuscation.

"Believe it or not, I did know your father. And your mother too. Small world, isn't it? And I'd be happy to tell you all about them…if, of course, you agree to our terms and sit down for a nice, polite conversation. I don't know about you, but I rather find it hard to talk to someone when they have their fists in my face, about to beat me to a bloody pulp. That sort of thing, well, it just makes my memory a bit fuzzy…"

Po started to laugh again—but somehow, perhaps as he saw the look of deadly seriousness mingled with cocky superiority in Xiu's eyes, it died in his throat. Again, he hesitated. Over his shoulder, Tigress saw Chun's eyes widen in surprising emotion, startled and a trifle worried; and beyond her, Jia actually flinched and looked guiltily from her sister to the panda. I don't believe it…could they actually…? Po saw it too, and a spasm seemed to pass over his face, followed by confusion, distress, and at last, an almost painful, sorrowful yearning. "I…"

"Don't listen to her, Po," Tigress forced herself to say. "You know she's just trying to lure you into a trap, the same as she did Tai Lung. There'll be plenty of time to interrogate them after we defeat them. If she even knows anything at all, which I doubt."

She hated having to say this if there really was even the slightest chance the Wu Sisters did know something about Po's lost family, but she had no choice. Ping had to be saved…and even with all the changes in Tai Lung, she had a very strong feeling he could not retain his lifeline on humanity without the panda. It certainly went without saying they probably couldn't defeat Heian Chao without him.

Meanwhile, Xiu sneered and let out a mirthless chuckle. "Isn't it a pity we live in such skeptical times? Fine, believe me or not, it's your choice. Do what you want, but I'm sure you know I'm a lot less likely to be cooperative after you've given me a thrashing—as you so must want to do right about now."

Seeming to shake himself, the panda clenched his fists briefly, then curled his fingers again as he turned himself forty-five degrees and spread his legs apart to draw strength and support from the ground, as a good Dragon should. "Ya know what? I don't care."

"You're not even the least bit curious?" she taunted.

"Nope," Po said immediately. "I don't need t' know about my birth parents, I've been happy with my dad for th' last twenty years—an' I will be again, if ya ever let me have him back. That's even assumin' ya aren't lyin'."

"Pity," Chun murmured suddenly. "Even considering who they were, what they became, I think you would have liked them. I know they would have been proud of you."

The panda hesitated, looking both stricken and anguished, but then he waved a paw dismissively in the green-eyed sister's direction. "No, just…no! Stop it, all of ya! I ain't gonna listen t' any more of this…quit playin' games with me, just shut up!"

Even as he stopped yelling and clenched both paws, desperate and determined to be stoic and brave, Tigress felt her heart go out to him. She bit her lip, wishing beyond all reason she could tell him to give in—or better yet, that she had the answers he sought herself, so she could sit down with him and offer the comfort and closure he clearly needed.

But of course, the Wu Sisters wouldn't allow any of them that luxury. Tossing aside her black cloak, Xiu shook her head and tsked reprovingly. As her sisters followed suit, she remarked, "Well, never let it be said I was without mercy or fairness. I gave you all the opportunity to back down, save face, and keep from suffering another humiliating defeat you could want—more than you deserve, really. But if that's how you want it…"

"No, that's how it has to be," Po snapped. "And what makes ya so sure it's me that's gonna be eatin' grass?"

Xiu regarded him sardonically. "Please. You may have Master Tigress with you, but she can't save you now."

"Really? Maybe I'm wrong, but I kinda think that if you 'ladies' hadn't cheated in that birch forest, you'd have been in some pretty deep trouble. In fact, from where I'm standin', ya kinda, yanno, lost to Tigress. Big-time."

Unsurprisingly, the eldest sister looked incredibly nettled, even bristled hatefully at Po's apt summation. But she somehow managed to keep her voice level and gently condescending as she shook her head. And her words made Tigress bristle anew. "Well of course, that's what she'd tell you…if you'd been there, you'd have seen something quite different. But what about you? Unless I'm mistaken, there's no chance you've gotten good enough just in two months' time. Not to outfight me."

"You'd be surprised," the panda snorted. "Believe me, I've learned enough. You're not gonna win this time." It was the confident way he said it that convinced Tigress; he had learned a great deal, from all of them. There was a strong chance he could defeat the Sisters this time, especially with her and Viper's help.

Xiu lifted her arm to a horizontal fighting stance across her chest, her dagger brought to bear. "Yes, yes, I can see you've lost some weight and put on some muscle, good for you." Her eyes narrowed and flashed. "Not enough, I'm afraid. But don't worry, you won't be fat anymore after I gut you—just like I did that meddlesome bull."

Everyone froze, shocked to the core by the horrendous implication of these words. There were other bulls in the Valley…but none whose death would be worth taunting them about. And Po had told them how he'd been going to meet Zhuang and Xiulan for dinner at his father's shop. If the Sisters had gone there to kidnap Ping, then…

At the same moment she and Viper realized Xiu's words, for once, could be sadly and painfully true, the Dragon Warrior seemed to understand, too—and Tigress heard from him something she'd never heard before. A genuine, ugly, hateful growl, deep and vicious and savage…the sort she imagined a bear would make if his cub were threatened. "Why you…how could you…you didn't…" He seemed inarticulate with his rage.

"My, you are like Bao," Xiu observed. "Who'd have thought…and here I was sure you didn't have a murderous bone in your body. This might just be entertaining after all."

"Bitch!" Po finally thundered, and then he leaped forward—and he sprang so fast, so powerfully, so strongly, that none of them, not even Xiu, saw more than a blur of black and white before he'd landed and swung forward with a teeth-rattling, bone-cracking right hook. The punch struck the snow leopardess squarely in the jaw, rocking her head back—and sending her flying twenty feet backwards into a tree trunk, showering the ground with leaves, twigs, and several good-sized branches.

Even as she was struggling to her feet and shaking her head to clear it of the ringing, and sheathing her dagger to bring out her fire wheel instead, the panda was barreling toward her, building up a significant head of steam. When he was ten feet away, he leaped up in a forward-strike, his foot aiming precisely for Xiu's breastbone—but at the same time, he gestured with one paw behind him. From the nearby river, a wall of water suddenly rose, lashing out across the field to cut them off, however briefly, from Chun and Jia—and incidentally, smack down upon the sisters with a healthy, bruising slap.

Snarling and yowling as they were drenched to the skin, both assassins leapt out of the impromptu deluge. Spying the female kung fu masters still standing there, looking just as stunned at Po's incredible feat of elemental chi and kung fu prowess, Jia at once sprang toward Tigress, her meteor hammer already out and swinging. "Payback time!" the soaked cat cried furiously. "And I don't care what Tai Tai thinks, you are not prettier than me!"

Tigress only had time to see Chun ducking down and to the side as she slashed out with her own fire wheel in Viper's direction, and then she had to twist herself and backflip away from Jia's hammer, inverting over the boulder to fly upwards and land atop the menhir. The youngest sister pursued her, vaulting upwards as well with acrobatic ease, and then all else was lost in the haze of battle.

---

By the time Shifu, with Mei Ling at his side, had reached the home of the magistrate Fu Xiao, where the trial would be held in the large inner courtyard—allowing for plenty of room for a considerable audience of the townsfolk—he had explained to her precisely what Tai Lung had told him in his cell and how she could be of use to him in proving his son's innocence. Nevermind the fact the mountain cat looked rather more uncertain of his plan than he was, seemed openly worried and doubtful of its success…the same as the snow leopard had. What mattered was, she knew what would be required of her, what she would have to do. By the time they arrived, it was also just past noon, and the court had fully assembled, clearly ready to begin the proceedings at any minute.

When the red panda elbowed, pushed, and shoved his way through all the gathered, thronging citizens, however, and saw what had been arranged in the center of the courtyard, he couldn't keep back his groan of despair—or his scowl of insulted fury.

None of the people, it seemed, were allowed to be seated, for everyone was standing in tight-packed, grumbling ranks and rows surrounding the central garden. Directly in front of that square of vegetation, its brightly-hued blooms and heady fragrances standing in stark and mocking contrast to the occasion and its impetus, stood a large table covered with red cloth, behind which sat the formally-robed ram. Numerous piles of parchment lay nearby along with brushes, ink, and a stone for a gavel, a scribe stood alongside Fu to take down the proceedings and whatever might be dictated to him, and the ovine was currently reading over a scroll which presumably held all the details of the case and the charges.

What made Shifu's blood boil, and caused him to leave Mei Ling at the edge of the crowd so he could stalk forward to Fu's side, was that Tai Lung was kneeling in the middle of the courtyard before the table. Not by choice, but by compulsion—as he had been tied between two solid oak poles driven into the ground, his arms twisted and wound about them until they were painfully wrenched almost out of their sockets. His shirt was nowhere to be seen, the silvery-gray fur of his bare back exposed to the air…and from the way the nearest guards, a boar and an ox respectively, were grinning and leering openly while they smacked their clubs into their palms, they were itching to use such corporal punishment on their prisoner at the slightest provocation.

"What is the meaning of this?" the red panda demanded in a vicious whisper. "How dare you—Master Oogway explicitly forbade the use of these barbaric practices before I ever came to the Jade Palace! Have you lost your senses completely, Fu?"

Smugly, with an air of self-importance, the ram set down the scroll and looked at him with a hard, cold smile. "Master Oogway isn't here. And the last time I checked, I was the magistrate here, not you. Which means I can choose whatever means of trying and punishing criminals that I see fit. As for why I dare—I rather thought the old ways are the best, and in need of reinstitution. Especially for this crime, and this criminal."

"No!" Shifu insisted. This couldn't be happening, there had to be a chance to get real, fair justice here. He couldn't believe this, it made no sense… "You are not getting away with this! The accused is always innocent until proven guilty, and the Emperor has decreed—"

"The Son of Heaven isn't here either," Fu retorted. "I doubt he cares what happens in one distant village, even here in the Valley of Peace. If he knew what was going on, what had been done, he would agree with me, I'm sure. And no, Tai Lung at least is always guilty until proven innocent. So unless you wish to share his fate, I suggest you get out of the way so we can get this over with." He paused, then chuckled softly. "Only a few hours, I think. I'd rather have the sentence carried out before nightfall, after all…"

Bristling, Shifu nevertheless fell back until he stood at the very edge of the crowd beside Mei Ling again. At this point, aggravating Fu Xiao would only make things worse. He could only hope that the mountain cat's testimony, and his own, would be enough to outweigh Xiulan, convince the magistrate, and overturn this spurious charge…

After another few minutes, the ram stood and pounded his gavel until the audience had fallen silent. Then he turned to face Tai Lung, who until that moment had kept his head bowed and his eyes fixed on the cobblestones. Coughing, Fu raised his voice peremptorily and called out in a tone that was authoritative, bored, and malicious all at once.

"Quiet! This court is now in session. In the matter of the murderer, ravager, and deplorable beast Tai Lung, the charge has been leveled that last night, on the fifth day of the eighth month, the accused did knowingly, deliberately, and wickedly take the life of Shen Zhuang, the builder. How do you plead?" This last was spoken with as heavy and blatant an irony as possible.

Now, finally, his son lifted his head a fraction of an inch to glare at the magistrate. "Not guilty," he growled.

"Of course," Fu noted sourly. "What else would you say? Make my job that much harder, I see…" A brief wave of derisive laughter ran through the crowd.

"If I may speak, Your Honor?" The voice was hoarse, choked with tears, and wracked with pain, and Shifu knew, even before he saw her step forward, that it was Xiulan.

"By all means, Mrs. Shen," the ram said, his entire demeanor changing to one of kindness and solicitation. "You are the one he has wronged the most, and the one who witnessed the atrocity. Please tell us, in your own words, what took place."

Wringing her hands and occasionally dabbing at her weeping eyes with a handkerchief—something which, despite its obvious play for sympathy and drama, Shifu could tell she genuinely needed to keep up with her ceaseless crying—the cow woman moved into the center of the courtyard, to the right of and far removed from Tai Lung's kneeling figure. Yet when she spoke now, there was a firmness and clarity in her voice that was startling.

"Citizens of the Valley of Peace: you know what this foul, twisted man has taken from us already, what he did to our homes, our people, our entire way of life a score of years ago. I don't even need to go on about the wanton destruction, the families torn apart, the countless lives ended without thought or compassion that night. So I'll only relate what he has done to me…for the second time now."

She might have claimed she would not dwell upon the rampage of twenty years ago, but simply bringing it up at all, let alone her direct and pointed references to it, accomplished the same thing in a few short phrases; Shifu could see the numerous faces drawn taut with fear, grief, hatred, and anger, heard the crowd stir and mutter furiously, and saw them glare almost as one at the snow leopard's spotted back. She's good, he admitted bleakly, despairingly. She's barely begun, and she already has them in the palm of her hand.

"I went to Ping's noodle shop last night with my husband," Xiulan continued. "He wanted me to talk to his friend, to learn why he had forgiven Tai Lung and allowed him into his restaurant as a companion to his son, the Dragon Warrior Po." She broke off briefly to stare around suspiciously. "Whom, you may note, isn't even here to defend his supposed friend." Out of the corner of his eye, Shifu saw the snow leopard's ears twitch, the muscles of his shoulders bunch, and then his entire frame seemed to droop. Was he shaking with sobs?

"I went there, fully intending to refuse any and all overtures Ping made. We all know what a simple-minded fool he is, there isn't room in his tiny little head for anything but noodles." Several heads in the crowd bobbed in unison, though the expressions ranged from amused scorn to slightly guilty sorrow at admitting this. "But I went anyway, for my husband's sake, because I loved him with all my heart…and because he too was convinced Tai Lung had changed, found goodness inside him and redeemed himself. He was wrong…and it cost him his life."

She whirled around suddenly to stab a finger toward the feline. "I saw him with my own eyes. He was there, in Ping's kitchen last night. And he was not alone. He had the Wu Sisters with him." A collective gasp rose from the audience, and in spite of himself Shifu joined in; he had not expected Xiulan or anyone to know of the assassins' being in the Valley, let alone to admit to it. Hope mingled with fear in his heart. On the one hand, this meant he would not have to prove the three killers were there and could have done the deed instead, their presence had been established. On the other hand, even if Mei Ling proved the fur had been Xiu's, this would do no more than confirm what Xiulan had just said, that the Sisters were involved; it would not exonerate Tai Lung.

"They were after Ping—to use him as leverage against his son, I imagine. Zhuang, like the heroic and noble man he was, tried to talk them down, find a way to free his friend from their clutches. But one of the sisters went for my husband instead…there was a struggle…and then Tai Lung was there, and he stabbed Zhuang in the stomach."

The entire crowd groaned in despairing sympathy, even as they also stirred fitfully. Shifu thought he saw several swords and axes, as well as tools and makeshift weapons, being brought into play.

Xiulan wiped away tears again, then stared out at the sea of faces with vindication and blank horror in her eyes. "But that wasn't enough for him. He had to claw my husband open, too, tear him open and leave his entrails spilling out on the floor so he would die in mortal agony. He told me to flee if I wanted to live, to tell everyone he had returned and that this time, we would all die, that no one was safe from him. It's the only time he's ever told the truth, I'd stake my life on it."

As she fell silent at last, the court was utterly still and quiet, not a word spoken or sound made. Daring to glance aside at Mei Ling, Shifu saw anguish and sorrow on her face too…but when she shifted her gaze to rest her eyes on the snow leopard, and her expression did not change, he realized that she was reacting in empathy for both Zhuang and Tai Lung, not blaming him for this tragedy. Nerving himself, and deciding now was the best time—before this travesty went any farther and everyone's views were swayed by such clear appeals to emotion—the red panda stepped forward and struck Oogway's staff lightly against the stones for attention.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he declaimed, and was pleased to hear a ripple of greetings and acknowledgments—some half-hearted and cursory, but many more still deferential and respectful. "I know that I am only the master of the Jade Palace and have no standing here in the Valley. And I know that many of you may believe me far too biased in this case, considering what happened twenty years ago. But you should also know I have always been fair and just in my dealings with you…that both I and Master Oogway have protected you on numerous occasions—" So you damn well owe me at least the courtesy if not the benefit of the doubt. "—and that I would never knowingly steer you wrong. I have information relevant to this trial, which I believe you should hear before you proceed." He stepped aside, gesturing behind him to the mountain cat.

For her part, Mei Ling looked much more nervous and uncertain than she had that day in Yunxian, but when she spoke her voice was nevertheless clear and unwavering. "Thank you for listening, and for having me here. I must say, first of all, that I understand the pain, anger, and hate you must all be feeling. I too have lost someone close to me, my father. And he was taken from me by the same assassins Mrs. Shen has told you about. But then you must believe me when I say, I know them well, I have studied their methods and followed their trail for many years, determined to find justice myself. I know how they think and operate, what they are prone to do—how they kill, and how they maneuver matters to frame others for their crimes. A little over two months ago, they did just that, in the town of Yunxian. And their target was the same man you see before you…Tai Lung."

As everyone stirred again, this time murmuring in doubt and puzzlement as well as surprise, the Li Dai graduate proceeded to outline what the snow leopard had told the Five and their master about the encounter at the lakeshore, the battle which had taken place there, how close Po had come to death—and how her own examination of the battle site as well as the panda's body had confirmed Tai Lung's story. When she had finished, she looked out over the crowd, jaw set and eyes bright with just as much determination and confidence as Xiulan had shown. She also studiously avoided looking into the snow leopard's grateful eyes, since Shifu had warned her that any apparent connection and relationship between them would undermine her integrity.

"So you see…the Wu Sisters have proven once already quite willing to let Tai Lung take the fall for them. Far from him being one of them, they tried to kill him. They wanted him to join them, he said, but he refused. It seems they won't take no for an answer…that they'll continue killing and blaming him for it, until everyone turns on him and he has no one left." She paused, then bunched her fists at her sides.

"Don't let them succeed. Don't believe the lies they want you to. If they were truly there in Ping's kitchen, then they committed the deed alone. Tai Lung has turned his life around, he's willing to defend the Valley now, the same as the rest of the Jade Palace is. You let him go, he'll bring in the Wu Sisters for you, he'll avenge Zhuang. I swear it on my honor as a kung fu warrior."

Open gasps met that pronouncement, and Shifu couldn't help but smile, albeit grimly, behind his hand; as he had known going into this, the fact a kung fu warrior was willing to stake her honor on defending Tai Lung would have incredible weight, even for the poorer residents of the Valley. They would know that a true kung fu warrior, like Oogway or the Furious Four, would never risk compromising their honor for someone they did not fully trust and believe in.

Honesty and wisdom, strength of vision and forthright open-mindedness, these were the hallmarks of what the turtle had imparted to his students and displayed in his every word and deed. To violate the sanctity of this was unthinkable, it would literally cost a kung fu warrior their honor, would strip them of the prestige, acceptance, and respect they received everywhere they went. So if Mei Ling would say such a thing, why it must be true…

Yet of course, at least one present would not allow this to pass without remark. Xiulan stepped forward again even before Mei Ling could retreat, and as she spoke, despite her modulated tone, she was clearly struggling to hold back contempt and open malice. Her voice, nevertheless, was quite cold. "That is all well and good, Miss Ling. But all your story proves is that Tai Lung and the Wu Sisters do have a past together, that they had a chance to sink their claws in him and corrupt him to their way of thinking. And I know what I saw last night. Are you calling me a liar?"

To her credit, the mountain cat only regarded her calmly, without rancor. "No. I just think you were mistaken in what you saw. It was dark, it was late, and you were both terrified and grieving…"

"I know what I saw," Xiulan repeated insistently.

"But," Shifu cut in, as gently as he could manage (which he had to admit was not very), "you are not exactly…unbiased here. In fact I would say you are predisposed to distrust him. Anyone who spends even a little time in the village would be aware of that. Surely you can see how the Wu Sisters could use that to their advantage."

The bovine's nostrils flared impressively, and then she stalked over to stand above the panda. "You are as foolishly naïve as Zhuang was. If you had been there last night, Tai Lung would have killed you too. In fact, if what I've heard is true, he did try to kill you, when you visited him in prison. Don't you think your trust is misplaced?"

More shocked whispers from the watching villagers, and this time when he glanced aside at Mei Ling he saw she too was stunned and, at least momentarily, rather wary as she looked at the bound snow leopard; of course Shifu had not told her what Tai Lung tried to do, it would not have looked good to her at all. "No, I do not," he snapped vehemently, drowning out the chattering and wrenching everyone's gazes, including Mei Ling's, back to him.

"Whatever rumors you heard, as usual, do not tell the full story. Tai Lung merely wished to escape the confines of his cell—I trust you do not have to think hard to imagine he might have issues with prisons after twenty years at Chorh-Gom." He couldn't keep the tart, stilted tone out of his voice. "He would never have truly killed me—it was simply an act to get the guards to cooperate."

"A likely story," Xiulan sniffed. "And you still haven't explained how Tai Lung could be innocent when I saw him kill my husband."

That was indeed quite the sticking point…but even if he knew, precisely, how Heian Chao could have obscured her sight or altered the image of one of the sisters to match his son's, he still could not explain the chi wizard's existence or powers to the Valley. So instead he evaded. "There are…ways you could have been fooled or misled. But tell me: I hear that fur was found at the scene of the crime, around Zhuang's body. Could we, please, examine it? Mei Ling has experience with this sort of thing, and if we can prove one way or the other who it belongs to, we could save everyone a great deal of time."

Xiulan sneered openly at him, and Fu Xiao, who had been impatiently drumming his fingers on the tablecloth, looked no less withering, but with a curt wave of his hand he allowed one of his officials to come forward with the pouch of snow leopard fur. Shifu took a deep breath and held it as Mei Ling reached in, plucked out the silvery-gray hairs, and inhaled them for a strong sniff.

But after several moments, the mountain cat couldn't hide the distress and denial on her face at what she had discovered. Swallowing hard, she had to try several times before she could speak at all, let alone loudly enough to be heard. "It…it is Tai Lung's fur."

"What?" Shifu burst out.

Even as the entire court was buzzing with the news, Mei Ling gave the panda an apologetic look before continuing, somewhat lamely. "I do smell other scents on it, though. Both that of Chun and her elder sister, Xiu. I don't smell Zhuang…but I'm afraid I don't know his scent well enough to be sure it isn't there."

Xiulan turned and speared Shifu with a look of wild, surging triumph. Flabbergasted and traumatized—he'd been so sure the Wu Sisters had framed his son with their own fur, or some other leopard's—he finally spluttered, "That…that proves nothing! He sparred with them in Yunxian, they could have obtained fur from him at any point during that fight…" Even to himself, the excuse sounded weak and pitiful, however true it likely was.

The magistrate seemed to be of the same opinion, as after a few moments of pounding his gavel for silence again, the ram turned and eyed him sardonically. "It proves he was there in Ping's noodle shop the night in question. Unless you can provide an alibi, or a reason he might have been there…"

Shifu could not; for while he knew the snow leopard had been in the village and why, telling them that would accomplish nothing. At this point, his son's privacy and shame mattered little, but since Tai Lung had gone to fetch birth control herbs and thus would have been nowhere near Ping's restaurant, or had a reason to make a side trip there, he could not explain this.

"Very well." Fu slammed the gavel again, then sat down to write a few notes on his scroll. "The prisoner was on the premises at the time of the murder, in the company of assassins known to be interested in his service, and without an alibi." He turned and glared harshly at Tai Lung. "That just leaves a motive, which is terribly easy to come by. Tai Lung, do you deny that you know this woman?"

"No," the snow leopard growled, clearly put out at the obvious question.

"Or that you murdered her husband Dishi twenty years ago?"

A brief pause, and when he spoke again it was softly, painfully. "No."

"Then tell us, why did you decide to kill her second husband? Was one not enough for you? Did you want her to be a lonely, suffering widow all her life? Were you taking out your anger at Wei Chang on his replacement foreman? Or did you want to take Shen Yi for your own and needed to get her father out of the way first?"

Tai Lung's jaw dropped open and worked soundlessly for several moments, and Shifu didn't blame him—how could he possibly answer a series of such leading questions? "I…no, I didn't…how could you think…I couldn't possibly…"

Fu Xiao eyed him closely, then turned and nodded firmly to one of the guards. "Let the record show the prisoner is being evasive, and persists in declaring his innocence. Chastise him."

"No!" But Shifu's objecting shout was drowned out by the roar of approval from the crowd, with Xiulan's excited, fiercely fervent cry the loudest of all. Even as he struggled forward to intervene but was held back by a soldier, the other guards moved to the wooden posts holding Tai Lung—and as one of them turned a hidden crank to stretch the snow leopard's arms even farther apart, the others hoisted their clubs and began to liberally, mercilessly, eagerly beat his back and shoulders.

As Tai Lung's agonized screams rent the air and echoed up to the tiled rooftops, the red panda clutched Oogway's staff helplessly, screaming himself for clemency, understanding, a single chance for reason and logic to win out over this flimsy, circumstantial evidence. But as he did so, he suddenly discovered why no one seemed willing to listen, what his premonition from Oogway had meant, as well as why all of them—but Tai Lung most of all—were in even more danger than they had been at Chorh-Gom.

For when his hands squeezed the ancient peach wood, the entire staff suddenly seemed to glow with a radiant, golden light…and in its halo, he saw what he could not before. Every single person in the crowd…Fu Xiao…the guards…Xiulan…and even Tai Lung himself…were surrounded by flickering, swirling, writhing shadows. Just as Vachir and the Anvil of Heaven had been. Auras of darkness and corruption that seemed to seethe, shimmer, and envelop their hosts all the more tightly and thoroughly with every scream, every strike of the clubs, every joyous cheer and insulting jeer hurled into the sun-warmed courtyard. Fear blasted through Shifu, practically immobilizing him with its overpowering strength.

Ti'en help us, and Shang Ti have mercy on us. What has Chao done? And how can we ever stop him now…?

---

Slithering and darting with lightning speed through the whispering grass blades, Viper couldn't help smiling grimly to herself as she evaded Wu Chun's every attack with consummate ease. If she didn't know better, she would think that either the snow leopardess was nowhere near master level, certainly not as well trained as she was…or the assassin wasn't truly trying to defeat her. But why would that be?

No, while it might be overconfident and rather arrogant of her to believe so, it seemed more likely that the Jade Palace regimen was simply that much more rigorous, versatile, and comprehensive than that of Li Dai. The fact this might entirely be owed to Shifu's slave-driver tendencies and absolutely grueling training courses in the kwoon was something she found ironic, and not altogether reassuring.

So, the only reason I'm winning is because Master Shifu is a cruel and unforgiving teacher? Who'd have thought that would ever come in handy…

One of Chun's fire wheels thrust downward, its sharpened metal edge almost slicing into her scales, and the serpent swiftly tore her thoughts away from introspection and focused on the battle once again. Narrowing her eyes, Viper dodged deftly to the side, winding and angling in sudden and unexpected zigzags, exactly as if she were practicing atop the Field of Fiery Death, and the technique worked just as well here. First one fire wheel, then the other, buried itself in the soil where she had just been, and before Chun could wrench them free, Viper brought her triangular head up to slam hard into the Wu Sister's chin.

She felt as well as heard the teeth clack together as her opponent was hurled backwards, and just like that she was free to wriggle around and then behind Chun, her stiffened tail then quite able to smack with stinging force into the backs of the snow leopardess's thighs. Another sharp jab, this one striking the killer right in the small of the back, sent her sprawling forward on her face—and instantly Viper had disappeared into the greensward, which camouflaged her perfectly.

Behind her, she heard Chun curse in futility, then begin to dart and leap after her, beating and swinging at the blades to find her hiding place. Again, she smirked. Might as well live up to the stereotype.

As she continued to lead the middle sister on a merry chase across Wu Dan's plains, the serpent made sure to elevate her head every now and then—not only to gauge her pursuer's progress, but to see how her companions were faring against the other sisters. What she saw on the other side of the wall of water when it fell flat and poured off the edge of the rocky shelf startled and amazed her, as well as made her inordinately proud…for Po was proving, consistently and skillfully, that he had learned his lessons well and was even able to incorporate them into his natural, unorthodox methods of fighting.

The kick to Xiu's breastbone, it seemed, had struck its target, since when she glanced in that direction, Viper saw the eldest sister just getting up from the ground with a paw clutched to her chest, rubbing where it had most likely been severely bruised. But Po wasn't allowing her to recover. Taking advantage of her inattention and pain, the panda put on a burst of speed and ran toward her again, and at the last moment performed a backflip that left him inverted atop his paws—and instantly, he whirled his entire body three hundred and sixty degrees, both his feet pummeling and battering Xiu's face and knocking her backwards yet again.

Screaming all manner of vile imprecations Viper couldn't distinguish at this distance, the Wu Sister managed to turn her fall into a dive, twisting about in a gymnastic gyration atop her paws that let her bring her own feet about and locked together. The heels of her boots struck Po a glancing blow across the head, hurling him sideways, but even as he landed and rolled across the ground, he instinctively brought up one fist to punch Xiu in the gut as she leaned over him.

By the time she'd recovered, he was back on his feet and lifting both paws in a gesture Viper recognized—not Dragon Fists or Tiger Fists, but the slightly different finger-curls which Tai Lung had employed against the Five at the Thread of Hope, and later on repeatedly while training in the kwoon.

Xiu seemed to recognize them too, as she snarled viciously and spat out another curse. "He's been teaching you, has he? You would dare use his technique against us?"

"Why not?" the Dragon Warrior retorted. "He's the best kung fu warrior ever—and he sure did wipe the ground with you before!" And he struck out, one-two, putting all the strength of his not-inconsiderable muscles behind the blows. Only through an insanely rapid reaction time was the assassin able to bring her fire wheels up in time to block him—and to Viper's surprise, Po didn't wince or even slow down when his knuckles struck the polished wood rings.

Instead he inverted one paw and brought it about and down to splay his fingers as if he held something gripped between them…and out of nowhere, or more precisely the air around him, water droplets condensed and gathered in seconds, forming a shimmering, rippling, crescent-shaped plane—no, it was a war fan fashioned of water! Grinning fiercely, dangerously, he brandished his new elemental weapon and swung it across Xiu's chest.

Apparently the moisture had somehow been mystically hardened, because when it cut across, it actually slashed through the snow leopardess's tunic and left a bloody line streaked through her fur, which itself had also been severed, leaving puffs of silver-gray to float almost serenely down toward the ground.

Those hateful blue eyes widened in shock this time, as well as confusion. "What? How? Who could have taught you—?"

Po smirked. "Mei Ling." And as Xiu let out an infuriated yowl at this new betrayal, the panda swung again and again, slicing the snow leopardess's sides, arms, and shoulders, until she was compelled to lean and leap backwards to avoid the blows. Soon enough, she was bringing her fire wheels into play again, this time to block the water fan, which somehow retained its shape and solidity—except for once in a while, when Po seemed to relax his will, allowing Xiu's paw and weapon to splash right through, so that she lost her balance and stumbled into his waiting Plum Flower Punch.

A sudden cry from nearby made Viper jerk her head back to pay attention to her own battle. Chun had abruptly lunged out of the grass with a triumphant sneer on her narrow face, bringing her fire wheel down hard—if its razor's edge managed to connect, Viper would certainly lose some scales, and just might have a segment of her coils lopped off; the Wu Sisters were stronger than they looked.

But she had many more tricks up her sleeves (well, if she had any), as she soon demonstrated: darting away like a slippery eel, she sprang from the ground up onto a boulder, from which she vaulted straight toward Chun's face. Jutting her chin proudly, the green-eyed sister inverted her weapon, bringing it up to block the incoming serpent with its flat ring facing outwards—but at the last second, Viper turned in mid-air, aiming her fluid, flexible body right through the center of the fire wheel.

The assassin only had time for one startled gasp before the reptile's head jabbed right into Chun's muzzle. As the rest of her coils caught up with her, she used her momentum to swing and wrap around the leopardess's neck, not only cutting off her air supply but jerking her backwards with the force of inertia. And then she was releasing, flying back over Chun's shoulder and once again disappearing into the vegetation. As she did so, she glanced back with a mocking, fairly vicious laugh. "I'm so sorry, sister. I thought you were ready!"

Leading the Wu Sister back across the plateau toward the Pool of Sacred Tears once more, Viper soon found herself near the menhir—atop which, Tigress and Jia were still going at it like, well, wild cats. Not that the leader of the Four was being as violent and vengeful as she likely would be against Xiu—Zhuang had been her friend too, after all, not to mention what the insane snow leopardess had in mind for Tai Lung—but she was certainly holding her own against the youngest sister.

It was the violet-eyed feline who was on the offensive…and for every blow and kick which Tigress succeeded in blocking or ducking, Jia seemed to have three or four more lined up with which to follow suit. Even from the ground, Viper could see the Wu Sister's small, sharp fangs gritted, see the tears leaking from her eyes as she struggled to batter her rival for the ex-convict's affections senseless with her bare paws; whether because Tigress had evaded it with such ease or because she wanted to do it with her own body, her meteor hammer had been discarded.

"It's not…fair! You think you're so damned special, don't you? Master of the toughest, baddest, meanest style of kung fu…leader of five, well, four, elite warriors…apple of Shifu's eye…you've got the run of the palace, the whole damn Valley looks up to you, everyone in China thinks you're the greatest." A punch toward the solar plexus, blocked by Tigress's forearm. "The most beautiful." A roundhouse the striped feline dodged, only to toss Jia up over her shoulder in a backflip—but she landed adroitly on her feet and twisted back without missing a beat. "Absolutely, undeniably perfect. And you get to have Tai Lung, too? Why? Why can't someone else get to be happy for a change? Why do you get to have everything, while I get nothing?" A series of rapid-fire chops, punches, and kicks that Tigress avoided by weaving about, almost as if she were as agile and pliable as Viper herself.

The striped feline actually gave Jia a long, sad, regretful look before leaping to the side, toward the edge of the menhir. Just before she sprang to the ground, she looked back over her shoulder and sighed. "You really don't know me at all, do you? Perfect, happy, fulfilled? Beloved by everyone? That's not me…or if it is, it's just the surface. Look deeper, and you'll find I'm just as lonely and bitter as you, Jia. I'm sorry you didn't get what you wanted. I'm sorry I hurt you—I certainly didn't mean to, I never wanted Tai Lung and I had no idea you did. But now that I have him, I'll be damned if I lose him. I won't stop fighting…so if you truly want more, you'd do better to look elsewhere, and leave me alone—or I can't promise what'll happen to you."

And with that, she hurled herself soundlessly to within several feet of the pool's shoreline. Avoiding the disturbing black water lapping out of it, she headed toward the tree where Ping still hung—but of course, Jia followed her with a heartbreaking shriek, driving into the back of her head with one foot, and then both cats were literally rolling across the ground, clawing and biting and slamming each other back and forth into the dirt…

From the other side of the pool, Viper saw Xiu and Po closing in again, and while she could see dirt and mud caked in the panda's fur, as well as several painfully deep cuts made by her fire wheel and the fact he clutched occasionally at his side where he must have bruised or cracked a rib, the Wu Sister looked much the worse for wear. Blood had actually soaked the side of her tunic completely through and was trickling down her trousers, as well as from a split lip, she favored one ankle, and her eyes looked even more deranged than usual.

Po seemed to have abandoned the water fan—instead he had a coil of water wrapped around his paw and was lashing out with it like a whip. Even as she watched, the stream struck out again, slapping with an audible report across Xiu's throat. Gasping and choking, she clutched at her windpipe while Po glared at her. "That was for Tigress." The water shifted, thickening and growing into a wave as thick as the panda's arm, then repeated the gesture, this time slamming across her diaphragm. The snow leopardess doubled over. "And that was for Zhuang."

Despite the agony she must be in after those blows, Xiu managed to evade the incoming sphere of water that was aimed at her head—in fact she pulled a dirty trick, since at the same time she was ducked over, she lunged with one fist and succeeded in landing a solid groin shot on the panda. Po howled in pain, losing his concentration and letting the water fall harmlessly onto the ground as he reached down to clutch at his lower abdomen. For several minutes it seemed as if Xiu had succeeded in turning the tables completely, as she followed up with one kick and punch after another, sending the Dragon Warrior staggering back step after step.

But then, as she was about to slam a Tiger Fist into Po's face—with enough force, it looked like, to break his nose—the panda suddenly rallied, and with a speed that seemed impossible brought one paw up to catch her fist just inches away from his muzzle. Staring at her past the meaty, black-furred appendage, he growled softly. "Big mistake." His fingers closed around her paw, squeezing—and suddenly Xiu was screaming, trying to jerk her paw out of his grip.

Only when Po relented and allowed her to escape was she able to stagger back, cradling her paw against her chest and glaring at him in pure, molten hate, and Viper's jaw dropped: with his strength, the panda had come that close to crushing every bone in Xiu's paw.

Yet even then he didn't seem through with her, as relentless and indefatigable as his teacher Tai Lung was legendary for being—shrugging aside the pain likely still throbbing in his groin, the bear rose to his full height and launched himself forward again. Xiu, unable to defend herself while still nursing her injured paw, could only twist and dance about, occasionally bringing up one foot or tucking her leg in a protective shield against her body.

She needed it, too, for Po was proving his bulk no longer hampered his speed—fists blazing, he was beating Xiu within an inch of her life, striking far too quickly for almost any eye to track. Fierce Tiger. Single Sword. Touch Bridge. Venomous Snake. By the time he had latched onto her elbow in an Eagle Claw joint-lock, Viper almost, almost felt sorry for the eldest Wu Sister—she had to be black and blue from head to foot, so that being caught and trapped that way had to be a blessing in comparison. Thinking back to that first day in the training hall, she had to marvel: I guess he really can make someone 'feel the thunder'…

Somewhere behind her, she suddenly heard a ghost of a sound, the faint swish of clothing brushing against the grass blades, and she turned—almost but not quite in time. Smirking harshly, Chun stood over her, having managed to approach with the stealth and silence of the ninja…and so her boot now stood upon Viper's tail, pinning her in place. "It may take me a while," the Wu Sister observed offhandedly, "but I always get what I want. Especially my prey."

Remaining perfectly still—not out of fear, but to fool her adversary and give the impression she actually was paralyzed—Viper flicked her gaze past Chun to the other combatants. Xiu had somehow broken free of Po and was now menacing him with her dagger in her good paw, the other still hanging uselessly along her bloody side, and while the panda seemed capable of defending himself to judge by how his arms and wrists continually caught the weapon by the flat of the blade, it was only a matter of time before she got in a lucky stab. Tigress and Jia were on their feet now, endlessly circling and rotating around each other, paws held up in mirroring Tiger Fists, standing between her and Po. It was now or never.

Narrowing her eyes, the serpent tasted the air with her tongue while displaying a delicious amount of fang, then shook her head slowly, patronizingly. "You've never fought a snake before, have you?" Without any warning, Viper stiffened her tail and flexed every powerful muscle in her long body.

Chun only had a moment to realize her error before the 'helpless' tail beneath her boot suddenly jerked and twitched upward. Flung off her feet, the spotted cat was thrown back and to the side, hurled directly in the path of her sister and Tigress—and ever the opportunist, the striped cat latched onto the back of Chun's tunic and thrust her right into Jia. There was a loud smack of flesh, fur, and bone slamming together, and both assassins were in turn knocked across the rolling hillside to land in a tangle of arms and legs behind the Dragon Warrior.

"Po!" Viper called. "Tung Shao Pass!"

The black-and-white bear jerked his head, stared at her—and then nodded firmly, his face lighting up with understanding. One of the most famous stories of the Furious Five, one a true kung fu enthusiast such as he couldn't possibly have missed. An occasion where they had won the day by abruptly switching opponents in the middle of combat, forcing them to change tactics, adjust their thinking to an entirely different kung fu style and warrior's mind. It had worked with flying colors that day, why not again?

Even as Jia and Chun were springing back to their feet and splitting up to head back for their respective adversaries, the Dragon Warrior made his move. Ducking down and aided by his low center of gravity, the panda brought one leg up and about in a flawless roundhouse, with all the force of his strength and weight behind it. It caught Xiu in the side of the head, sending her staggering until she had to lean heavily against a tree to even stay upright…and continuing the same move, Po tucked his shoulders and rolled in a somersault, flipped several times across the grass, then leaped ten feet off the ground. As he came down, he struck out in a full split, and each of his feet struck Chun and Jia in the back of the head, sending them flying in opposite directions.

By the time both of the sisters had gotten to their feet yet again and recovered their wits, the entire arrangement of the battle had changed. The violet-eyed assassin, expecting to be facing her competition for Tai Lung, instead had to blink, furrow her brow, and back away warily from Po; the disdainful and aloof Chun was left standing slim and still before Tigress; and Viper had slithered forward in a streak of green and yellow to intercept Xiu where she had finally found a second wind and had been leaping adroitly toward the Dragon Warrior's unprotected back. Perfect. Much easier to take them out this way…

Darting between the blue-eyed sister's legs just as she brought her dagger down to try and spear her to the ground, Viper angled her tail up and back as she passed, striking Xiu hard in the kidneys. Letting out a strangled cry, she collapsed on her knees—and instantly the serpent followed through on her strike, twisting back and leaping atop the snow leopardess's shoulders. In a blur of speed, she had her coils wrapped around Xiu's throat, crushing hard across her already sore trachea…and then she lunged around to bring her face inches away from the Wu Sister's. She was quite satisfied to see those cold blue eyes widen, fear taking up residence in them as she was suddenly presented with an up-close view of Viper's gleaming, saliva-dripping fangs.

Hissing menacingly, the serpent spoke low and threatening. "After all you've done, I should bite you right now, have it all be over and done with. But that wouldn't be honorable, and it wouldn't let us bring you to justice. So I'm just going to hold you here until your sisters are taken care of—make one wrong move, and I might just let these fangs…slip."

Of course, if Xiu was particularly well-versed in the lore of the Furious Five, and knew the story of Grand Master Viper, she would know that Viper was born fangless and therefore believe her to now have no venom. Her venom reserves had, in fact, been milked recently for Mantis and the Valley doctor. But Xiu doesn't know that. Isn't psychological warfare fun?

Unfortunately, it seemed Xiu was more knowledgeable than she'd given her credit for, since after a moment she only smirked lopsidedly and regarded Viper cockily. "A bold move, Mistress Viper. Too bad I happen to know you can't do a thing to me—you're famous all over China for being the most harmless of deadly serpents, you know."

Viper exposed even more of her fangs until Xiu swallowed hard. "Would you like to place bets on that one? I can assure you I am far from harmless, even if I do lack venom…which you can't really be sure of, now can you? Do you really dare?" And she smiled wickedly.

As she felt the assassin stiffen in her grip, she felt safe enough at last to look away and check the progress of the others, for somehow she found it easier to watch their battles than her own—and she was pleased to see that the new strategy seemed to have gone off like clockwork.

Chun, having adapted to an opponent who was quick but not quite as evasive as a serpent, now stood not far from the pool (but also just out of reach of the dark chi) almost like a statue, save for the single paw that reached inside of her tunic to pluck out a series of throwing knives and shuriken, which she then brandished between her fingers before hurling them with unerring accuracy at Tigress. The striped feline wasn't able to avoid them all, so that she too soon had crimson fluid matting her fur along her sides as well as down one thigh, but the otherwise quicksilver way she dodged the gleaming metal so that a line of blades quivered and embedded itself in the tree trunks behind her was nevertheless impressive.

Meanwhile, the acrobatic leaps, flips, and tuck-and-rolls Po was using to escape being slashed by Jia's war fan were only equaled by the Wu Sister's own cartwheels, handsprings, and sinuous twists to keep from being struck by the panda's renewed waves of water. Even when the Dragon Warrior wasn't drawing upon his chi, the clever and inventive ways he used to always stay just out of reach—a combination of Mei Ling and Tai Lung's instruction, unless she was completely misinterpreting what she saw—rather made the bear and snow leopardess seem to be indulging in an exhibition for the Imperial court than a serious kung fu battle.

As Po leaned back away from Jia, and the assassin in turn lunged forward until she hung just inches away from his furry white chest—and her fan blades were barest centimeters from his face—the Wu Sister seemed to realize this too, as she grinned winsomely at her opponent. "Wow, it's almost like we're dancing!"

In spite of himself, the panda grinned back at her. "Almost. Did ya wanna go for th' real thing? I can do a mean gutai."

Jia paused, actually placed one paw on her hip, and fluttered her fan in front of her face before raising an eyebrow. "Not my kinda dance, hotshot. And anyway, do I look like a dancer to you?"

"Depends on what kinda dancer," Po quipped dryly.

The Wu Sister pretended to look offended. "Are you calling me a xi sang?"

He winked. "If the slipper fits."

A very strange expression crossed her pixie-like face, a mixture of resentment, embarrassment, and pleasure—the latter, Viper supposed, because Jia's lustful nature made her feel such a position in society was both fitting and desirable, she appreciated Po using the more polite term and thus suggesting he held her in some esteem…or because she knew that serving as such a high-class type of lover was actually a mark of respect and often the only way some women could achieve riches and honor.

Of course, that didn't stop her from continuing the playful bantering, as with another coquettish flutter of her fan, the snow leopardess smiled and said, "Aww, how sweet. You really are quite a gem, you know? In fact, if you were maybe, I don't know, a hundred pounds lighter, you'd be pretty good-looking, too."

For a moment the panda's face lit up. "Thanks—hey!" Just like that, he was glowering at her, while Jia gave a tinkling little laugh.

"I know, that was below the belt. Hey, to make it up to you, why don't we do that little dance after all?" She twirled about prettily on one foot, then landed in a crouch, knees bent and ready to spring into action as she flourished her fan, each blade gleaming and sobering in the afternoon sunlight.

Po's face was inscrutable. When he finally spoke again, his tone was still light and casual—but Viper could instantly tell something had shifted, even before she saw him lean his weight back on one foot and tuck the other up for a thrust-kick. "Sure thing. Lemme just get my sword, an' I'll be ready as I'll ever be."

There was a pause, the air of the meadow quite still and silent, save for the thunk of darts into tree bark, panting breaths, and the slight gagging sounds Xiu continued to make as she struggled (unobtrusively, the assassin most likely believed) to free herself of Viper's coils. Then the mischievous twinkle left Jia's eyes, her face fell, and she actually looked disappointed—as well as openly worried. It was clear she'd probably interpreted the double-meaning in Po's reference to "sword dancing". "Hey…hey now, don't be like that, big guy. You…you know I really don't want to hurt you."

He snorted. "An' what about Tigress?"

She flinched, and had the grace to flush. "Okay, okay…I hate her guts, but if it means that much to you, I'll stop. For now." Raising her voice from the mutter of those last two words, she continued her appeal. "But I never meant you any harm, never. Especially not now. Not with…what I know about you. I'm just…I'm doing what I have to do."

"So am I," said the panda quietly, but sternly.

This seemed to discommode Jia even more, as she took a step backwards and brandished her fan again. Viper noticed it quivered slightly in her paw. "You don't understand. I…I've got to keep you from interfering with Chao's plans, or…you have no idea what would happen. But, but if you surrender, we can sit down and I can tell you all about your parents. I promise, and my word's good, not like Xiu's." Her violet eyes went flat and hard for a moment before clearing, becoming faintly desperate. "I mean it…no hard feelings?"

Again, all was quiet for a few moments. Slowly, Po lowered his leg, planting both feet solidly in a Dragon stance, but otherwise making no threatening moves. Jia stared at him, apparently holding her breath, a hopeful look on her elfin face. He took a few steps closer, stopping when he was less than an arm's span away, one paw even extended in what seemed a friendly, welcoming gesture.

But just before Jia looked as if she were about to take it, and her fan had begun to lower toward her waist, the Dragon Warrior lifted his other paw—and Viper saw that its fingers were once again curled in Tai Lung's signature move, this time with one digit folded a knuckle higher than the rest. When he spoke, it was very soft, regretful, and even sad.

"No hard feelings." With lightning speed, his paw darted forward, striking unerringly at Jia's shoulder.

A golden ripple of light suddenly burst out from his finger, shimmering down through the snow leopardess's fur and making it rise then fall again, as if buffeted by an unseen wind or filled with static electricity. A startled look crossed the assassin's face, followed by anger, pain, and shame—and then the fan fell from her slack, limp paw as that entire arm went numb thanks to the nerve strike Po had applied.

In quick and rapid succession, the panda stabbed out twice, four, five times—hitting her other shoulder, each hip, and twice in the chest. Again the golden chi washed over her, and then with a soft whimper, Jia slowly collapsed on the ground, every joint frozen and paralyzed, just as had happened to the Furious Five at the Thread of Hope.

As Po stood over the Wu Sister's prone form, his shoulders slumped in resignation, the plateau was silent again—completely so, this time. Hurriedly whipping her head about, Viper saw that Chun had paused where she stood, one paw drawn back to fling a shuriken toward Tigress where she half-crouched alongside a fallen log.

Her green eyes were fixed on Jia's toppled body, anguish and fury and despair rising deep within—so much emotion, especially compared to what she usually displayed, that she almost seemed likely to drown in them. She turned away from the striped feline, started to move in Po's direction…and then she spied Xiu, her throat still encircled by Viper's coils while she knelt on the ground.

Something seemed to let go inside the middle sister, and as her lips drew back to expose her fangs in a rictus of hate, she abruptly sprang forward off one foot, almost seeming to fly through the air as she drove herself straight at the bound form of Xiu, arms flung back behind her to further enhance and streamline her leap across the clearing. "Let her go, NOW!"

And with that unexpected command, all hell suddenly seemed to break loose.

One of Chun's paws ducked back into her tunic, then swiftly darted out again and flung itself sideways. Four—no, five throwing knives flew in a precise formation toward Po, and even as he rushed to intercept the Wu Sister, the blades caught his shirt collar and sleeves with exquisite skill, carrying the panda backwards and pinning him helplessly to another tree trunk.

At the same time, Xiu, who it seemed had not been as idle as she appeared, yanked her slender paws up from a pouch at her waist and, held half a foot apart, jerked them back against Viper's coil. Extended between them was the nearly invisible, but painfully sharp garrote Xiu had used to slit Po's throat in Yunxian. Even though the serpent's scales mostly protected her, such was the honed quality of the filament wire that it still bit terribly deep into her flesh.

Letting out a shriek, Viper instinctively recoiled, loosening the grip of her body around Xiu's neck—and as if she'd suddenly gone boneless, the snow leopard wriggled downward with greased speed, escaping her grip as effortlessly as if it were merely a training exercise. She leaped toward the now mostly-helpless figure of Po, only to be slammed into bodily by Tigress appearing in a streak of black and umber from the side—and as both felines took up where the leader of the Four and Jia had left off, snarling and growling viciously as they rolled across the ground in a flurry of punching paws and kicking feet, Chun managed to stab downwards with a pair of sai, interlocking the hilts so that they formed a triangular wedge to trap Viper in place. "Let's see you get out of that one!" she snapped, and then her paws were literally around the serpent's throat…

She wasn't as helpless as she seemed, though, thanks to being highly trained and simply more adroit than Chun believed. Once again flexing every muscle in her tattooed body, Viper went rigid all the way to the tip of her tail, then swung it sharply upward using the sai as a stabilizer. The force of the motion snapped Chun's head back, spilling her ignominiously on her backside, and also ripped the bladed weapons free of the soil. Instantly Viper darted up and across, wrapping her coils around the middle sister's torso and squeezing her ribs tightly.

"You…" Those green eyes narrowed to slits as she gasped and struggled against the crushing pressure. "You cheater. I thought…you were…honorable…"

Her temper blazing ever higher, Viper shoved her opponent back across the ground until she fetched up against another outcropping. "You dare talk to me about cheating, about honor? When you stooped to kidnapping an innocent man just to get Po to do what you want? When you work for someone like Heian Chao? When you kill people, all the time, every day, just because someone pays you and not because they deserve it or wronged you? When it was your cheating hammer that almost smashed Tigress's head in?"

She caught herself as she realized that not only was her rage getting the better of her, but she had constricted Chun so tightly the woman was almost unconscious, her face had begun to darken with trapped blood, and at least one rib had given way. No. No, this was wrong. No matter what the Wu Sisters had done, she could not kill them. If she did, she would be no better than them.

They had to live, they had to be brought forward to face the Emperor's law. All life, even that of these disreputable, repugnant assassins, was sacred and precious…that was what Oogway, and her mother before him, had taught her. Although she had taken lives in battle before, that was only when she had no choice, when it was in self-defense or to protect the innocent. Not like this, not in cold blood.

Not the way, she was certain, Heian Chao wanted her to.

Taking a deep breath (and relaxing her coils slightly as she did so, so as not to crush Chun any further), Viper waited until she felt calm enough to speak again, then looked her prey square in the eye. Although she managed to keep from hissing venomously this time, she nevertheless still showed more than a little fang as she spoke. "I spare your life because I am honorable, because it is the right thing to do. But don't push me any further, or you will find out how it feels for a serpent to spit in your face. It won't kill you, but I promise you it will blind you for a while."

To her credit, Chun was certainly no coward, though her wisdom in this situation might be questionable—for after blinking soberly at her captor, the snow leopardess at once began struggling to break free again, twisting and rolling back and forth across the ground and doing her level best to work an arm free so she could attack Viper with one of her weapons.

Sighing, the serpent held on as tightly as she could without further harming her, accepting with equanimity the bruising thuds whenever the snow leopardess brought her full weight down on her coils, but otherwise letting her writhe herself into exhaustion. At least it kept her out of the fight…and allowed Viper to watch what was happening nearby…

In point of fact, the serpent couldn't tear her eyes away, and was soon wincing quite openly. Although Xiu had gotten hold of her fire wheel again and was attempting to bring it into play, for the most part she and Tigress were still resorting to fists and feet to knock each other senseless. Rolling back away from the Wu Sister, the striped feline got her feet under her and swept out with one leg, knocking Xiu flying—but the snow leopardess threw herself backwards and up, inverting in a perfect 'T' high above the grassy field.

She brought her feet together and down to slam into Tigress's chest; of course, the other feline had plenty of time to see the attack coming and dodge it, but Xiu landed solidly where she had been standing and whirled about instead, pivoting on one foot to kick the leader of the Four hard in the rump. Snarling, Tigress caught herself before falling on her face with the aid of her lashing tail, then turned back and slammed her fist just as hard into Xiu's chin.

This led into an increasingly violent, incredibly nasty exchange of body blows, with the Wu Sister only barely managing to catch a few of the incoming shots with her fire wheel or her forearm but the majority of them rocking her head back, flinging her shoulder away, or doubling her over. Yet Xiu gave as good as she got, so that soon both of the females had blood coursing down their chins and dark, throbbing bulges beneath their fur where bruises and welts were swelling ever larger.

Gritting her teeth hatefully, Tigress shoved Xiu back into the same boulder she'd earlier lounged upon, pressing her against the rock as she held down both the assassin's wrists. "This is a rematch I've been waiting for…"

"That makes two of us." Xiu paused, then smirked guilefully up at her, blue eyes wide and disingenuous. "But…shouldn't you be worrying about your spotted stud instead of, ah, discussing ways and means with yours truly?"

Tigress glared, baring her fangs right in the Wu Sister's face as her chest heaved furiously. "Oh don't worry, I'll be seeing him again soon enough. And when I do, I'll have a little trophy for him!" She breathed hotly, suggestively, over Xiu's neck fur, as if she intended to bite right through the assassin's jugular and sever her head from her body. "Won't he be happy to see that?"

"You don't have the nerve!" Xiu laughed heartlessly, then winked sidelong. "You aren't a real killer, not like I am. You wouldn't dare."

"Try me!" Suddenly, something about the assassin's taunts seemed to register with her, for her feral snarl faded into a befuddled look—and then suspicion. "Wait a minute—what do you mean, 'I should be worrying about Tai Lung'? What's going on? What do you know that I don't?"

Xiu's suggestive grin was positively manic as well as cruel. "Oh, that could fill whole mountains of scrolls, Master Tigress. Are you sure you have the time to hear it?"

How Tigress refrained from smashing her face in, Viper would never fathom. In fact, she managed to get in a good rejoinder of her own. "I don't know, do you? You're the old woman here, after all."

Those cold blue eyes glittered fiercely, hatefully; even from this distance, Viper could see the gleam beneath her shadowed brows. What disturbed her was how they were almost identical at this moment to Tigress's, save for their hue. "Fine. You really want to know? He's gone off the deep end again. Completely flipped. Round the bend, off a cliff, no turning back." She seemed to linger over every word and syllable, relishing their texture and flavor.

"Chao finally got what he wanted, got under that thick, beautiful pelt of his and turned him back into the monster that made him so strong. And he helped us kill Zhuang. Everyone knows it. His own wife saw it!" Xiu smiled. "By the time you get back to the village, it'll be too late. He'll either belong to the mage, and will have already begun a new rampage far worse than the old…or those superstitious townsfolk will have killed him, in which case he'll still be Chao's. If you're lucky, you might get to have some of his fur as a souvenir…or you might get the honor of being his next victim. True love, indeed."

Viper inhaled sharply, felt Chun struggle more wildly, and had to relax to keep the woman alive again. No. No, it couldn't be!

Her friend and leader seemed to be of the same opinion. Wrenching Xiu up off the boulder and shaking her by her tunic, she snarled, "I don't believe you. You'd say anything to distract me so you can win. Or to get me to turn on him, so he really will fall into darkness again. I'm not listening to you."

"As always, believe whatever delusions you wish." Xiu shook her head, a rather unconvincing look of sympathy on her face. "But you know…you really should have left me alone, and gone back—while you had the chance!"

Her feet came up and struck powerfully at Tigress in a one-two blow—the first knocking into the feline's chin, the second slamming right into her breastbone and hurling her off. And before the leader of the Four could even recover, Xiu was leaping after her, brandishing her fire wheel. The striped feline landed flat on her back, but succeeded in getting a paw up in time to slash at the assassin's weapon with claws unsheathed. Her aim was true, and the wheel was at once ripped from the Wu Sister's grasp, flying off to the side until its now deeply-scratched wooden frame disappeared over the edge of Wu Dan's cliff.

Watching this in rising fury, Xiu seemed to go into a berserker rage, her own claws lashing out to embed themselves again and again in her opponent, ripping and tearing. Most of the blows, Viper thought, only lodged themselves in Tigress's vest and trousers…but she couldn't be sure. Tigress returned every blow with one in kind, similarly shredding Xiu's apparel and, hopefully, flesh—but just as frequent were the uppercuts, belly punches, and knee hooks each of them employed.

Just when it seemed Tigress would triumph, Xiu succeeded in a scissors-kick that sent her sprawling. Just when the assassin appeared poised to make another kill, both of the kung fu warrior's feet caught her in the face, only adding to the rich stream of red pouring from her nose. And then, as the striped feline sinuously twisted her arms behind her, did a handspring to flip herself back upright again, and rushed body-to-body with the Wu Sister once more, she executed a flawless combo of Tiger Fist and sweep-kick: as the former slammed into Xiu's torso and bent her backwards, the latter caught her already precarious body right behind the calves and finished the topple. With a strangled cry, Xiu slammed back into the ground, hard, cracking her head in the process on a hollow log.

Standing over her, breathing rapidly, the striped feline held both her paws ready to attack again—and indeed, somehow, by some well of strength and determination and sheer, unmitigated stubbornness, the eldest sister was struggling back to her feet again. Viper personally thought a strong wind, or even a puff of air from Tigress, might knock her over, but apparently her friend wasn't taking any chances. She grabbed onto Xiu's tunic, jerked her forward, one paw drawn back to deliver the final blow that would knock her out—and then she smiled, slow and almost sinister, as she gazed at something behind the assassin.

"You know," she said, almost conversationally, "you really are quite sloppy, Xiu. Making so many mistakes—it's not like you. Have you been cutting corners, forgetting your own lessons? Or…did I overestimate you, you were never that good to begin with, and what happened before was a fluke?" Viper knew, of course, that Tigress would likely have had a much more difficult time of it—perhaps would even have lost again—if Po hadn't already done such a number on Xiu. But she was hardly going to correct this impression…seeing Tigress lord this over Xiu was quite delicious indeed.

"What…what do you mean?" The Wu Sister sneered, wiping blood from her mouth with the back of her paw, trying to focus her glazed eyes. "I…I've thought of everything. This…this is just a setback, I'll make you pay for this, you wait and see!"

The leader of the Four shook her head almost in pity. "No, I don't think you will. Because you forgot the first and most important lesson of kung fu…" She nodded her head behind Xiu. "Always pay attention to your surroundings."

Xiu turned…and gasped, her jaw dropping, as she saw that Po was gone. Only his shirt remained, torn free and still pinned to the tree.

Before anyone could blink, a massive, black-and-white form suddenly swung down from above, hanging from the largest limb of the tree which extended out over the battlefield. With an ease that made it seemed he lacked half his true weight, the Dragon Warrior flipped several times around the limb, then vaulted clear and landed right behind Xiu—his paw striking out yet again to stab her right in the small of the back.

Flailing wildly as her legs twitched, jerked, and suddenly went limp, the assassin collapsed on the ground, her lower half completely immobilized. Hissing and growling, she dug her claws into the earth and tried to drag herself, ineffectually and looking rather pathetic, across the ground toward the one who had defeated her. "You! Damn you! I should have…killed you when I had the chance! I should have taken care of you…back in Yunxian!"

"Should've, could've, but didn't," Po observed smugly. He struck again, this time hitting her in the elbow with another golden flash.

"No! No! NOOO!" Screaming like a wild beast, still lurching along with the aid of her one good paw, she lunged desperately, half-heartedly, at the panda—her upturned face a riot of tempestuous, violent emotions, tears of rage, despair, and anguish streaming down her cheeks. "This cannot be happening! I will not accept it! You…cannot…defeat me! You're just a big…fat…PANDA!"

It was Tigress, standing over her and looking down in mingled disgust, discomfort, and the barest drop of empathy, who replied, her voice almost detached and clinical. But she had a small, if grim, smile on her face as she exchanged a look with Po. "No. He's the big fat panda."

Po struck one final time, and with a final ripple of light and an almost childlike wail, Wu Xiu collapsed utterly, her entire body numb from the neck down, her face buried, weeping and sobbing, in the grass.

Seeing this, and galvanized at the utter humiliation dealt to the most heartless and evil of the Wu Sisters, Viper swung her head back to stare down, hard and determined, at Chun. "Well? That's two down. Are you ready to admit the truth and quit while you're ahead?"

For answer, the middle sister succeeded at last in yanking one paw free of her coils and lashed out at her with her dagger. But the serpent was expecting this, and even as she sighed dramatically, she caught hold of Chun's wrist with her tail. Squeezing to make the woman drop her weapon, Viper then braced herself and yanked hard in the opposite direction, jerking Chun's clenched paw back so that, as with Tai Lung on the Thread of Hope, she hit herself in the face. Again and again she did this, until Chun rocked back and forth like a rag doll, and as she did so, the serpent couldn't help but get a little smug herself. "Quit hitting yourself!"

At last, woozy and decidedly bruised, the snow leopardess went limp and collapsed back in Viper's coils—and in a dissonant contrast to her previous violence, she almost tenderly allowed the woman to slump down on the ground. Only a faint groan answered her, but she still slithered off Chun to approach the others with a satisfied air. Yet both Po and Tigress, she saw, were staring at her very oddly, whether for her behavior or her choice of words. A bit miffed, but allowing that her attitude must have seemed rather unexpected, the serpent regarded them apologetically but also with a touch of aspersion.

"What? I've always wanted to say that! But Master Shifu would never let me."

Tigress made a great show of looking around the deserted field, empty save for the three groaning, unconscious, or only barely stirring spotted cats. Then she crossed her arms over her chest and said, with exaggerated care, "Master Shifu isn't here. And we're not going to tell him anything. Are we, panda?"

Po twiddled his fingers together and adopted an artfully innocent look. "Tell who what?"

"Good boy."

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(A/N: The large number of shout-outs or direct quotes from the movie in this chapter should be self-explanatory. With the genre shift and massive character development I've been undertaking, I felt my fic needed some more grounding in its source material again. That, and finding ways to use old scenes and lines in new ways was a heck of a lot of fun! :) What I will note is that Xiulan's off-the-cuff description of Ping as having a little head that can only hold noodles is a shout-out to a comment Jennifer Yuh Nelson made about him in Art of KFP; Xiu's line "Isn't it a pity we live in such skeptical times?" is swiped from Eris in Sinbad [why not? It was made by Dream Works too, and she'd love to be compared to a goddess of chaos]; and while it was not meant to be a direct reference, I did get the idea for Viper mentioning Tung Shao Pass from Mulan.

Other notes: a xi sang is a courtesan of fairly high status and luxury, comparable to a geisha, while a gutai is a peasant dance; the appearance of lines from Avatar coming out of the mouths of Xiu and Jia should not surprise you in the least [have fun catching them all! And this won't be the end of them either]; and as I noted last time, the information revealed about ancient Chinese legal practices in this chapter is all true, as I learned from my research. Horrible stuff, I know, but then nobody's hands were clean in days gone by [the Salem witch trials, the French Reign of Terror, the Dutch Inquisition, medieval England's iron maiden, and so on]. Obviously Fu Xiao is being encouraged by Chao, but still...

So now you've finally gotten to see badass Po, and the Sisters (or at least Xiu) getting their comeuppance. But don't count them out of the story just yet... Stay tuned next week, when you'll learn a little more about Po's parents, see the rest of Tai's trial and what follows, and learn whether Crane, Shifu or Mei Ling will be able to save the day—or if someone else needs to make it back in time to help. R/R!)